news article
Celebrating Rev. Dr. Georgia Harkness
April 14, 2026 / By Tara Barnes / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“Hope of the world, thou Christ of great compassion, speak to our fearful hearts by conflict rent …”
Have you ever opened your United Methodist Hymnal to #178 and sang those words? They were written by the Rev. Dr. Georgia Harkness, a big name in Methodism: The first woman to become a full professor at a U.S. seminary, author of more than 30 books, six-time General Conference delegate, teacher, preacher, pacifist, poet, trailblazer, and human rights advocate. She even once stood up to famous theologian Karl Barth to publicly challenge his sexist theology, and her writings inspired the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
And she’s from Upper New York.
Georgia Harkness was born April 21, 1891, to Lillie and Joseph Harkness in Harkness, New York, which is just south of Plattsburgh in the Adirondack District. Her family came to Methodism when her great-grandparents were shunned by the Quakers because of her great-grandmother’s “scandalous” red coat.
Her New York roots run deep. After graduating from Keeseville High School, she attended Cornell University on a scholarship (one of the few colleges to accept women at the time) and joined the faculty at Elmira College in 1922 after getting her PhD at Boston University. She taught at Elmira for 15 years.
Marking history
On the corner of Hallock Hill and Harkness Roads in Peru, New York, is a blue and yellow roadside historical marker that reads “Harkness Church.” Erected in 2020, the sign stands beside Harkness United Methodist Church, where Georgia Harkness was a member for more than 70 years.
In 2025, the Upper New York Annual Conference supported a resolution to declare the church a United Methodist Historic Site as well. You can find a marker on her grave in the Harkness Cemetery as well, placed by the Upper New York Commission on Archives and History in 2010.
Harkness was ordained a local deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1926, and 12 years later she became a local elder. She knew women were called by God to full participation in all leadership of the church, and, after tireless advocacy for women’s ordination rights, she saw her advocacy come to fruition as a delegate at the 1956 General Conference, when the Methodist Church finally lifted its ban on women’s full ordination.
Join the celebration
Harkness United Methodist Church will celebrate Rev. Dr. Georgia Harkness’s birthday and the placing of the United Methodist Historic Site marker on Sunday April 19 at 10 a.m. The church is located at 780 Hallock Hill Road in Peru, New York.
The church is hoping to raise $5,000 to fund a scholarship in Harkness’s honor and in honor of the 70th anniversary of women’s full ordination rights in the Methodist Church. Even if you can’t make the celebration, consider contributing to the scholarship via check made payable to Harkness United Methodist Church with “Georgia Harkness Scholarship” on the memo line. Contributions may be mailed to: Harkness United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 720, Peru, NY 12972.
Want to learn more about Rev. Dr. Georgia Harkness? Check out these stories:
“Georgia Harkness, 1891-1974,” from UMC.org.
“Georgia Harkness: Methodist Trailblazer in Theology,” from UMC.org.
“Georgia Harkness,” from Boston University.
“Georgia Harkness,” from Evanston Women’s History Project.
Tara Barnes is director of denominational relations for United Women in Faith and serves as Binghamton District Lay Leader and a member of the Upper New York Commission on Archives and History.
Images courtesy of:
Wikimedia
Karen Staulters
Peru Gazette